


Lessons

by Trismegistus (Lebateleur)



Category: The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 10:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13052076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lebateleur/pseuds/Trismegistus
Summary: They were all of them learning it as they went along...In which two of Edrehasivar VII's nohecharei set out to solve an unforeseen problem.





	Lessons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elemental](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elemental/gifts).



Kiru Athmaza approached the horse in the same calm manner with which she had approached every obstacle since Telimezh had first met her. _It is not that we are afraid of horses_ , she had said unprompted, and quite matter-of-factly, one day as they were walking down the Alcethmeret's spiral staircase after having being relieved of duty by Cala and Beshelar. _Only we have never ridden before, and we fear it is a skill we shall need to master quickly._

The statement had caught him unawares, but of course she was correct. His Serenity's horsemanship had improved by leaps and bounds in the months since the Great Avar's departure. As for the weather, it grew milder by the day, and one imagined the time was not far off when the emperor would no longer be content to canter Velvet around the muddy track of the royal stables. On the morning when he finally rode out to accompany his courtiers on the hunt, or perhaps, Telimezh thought, to escape them, his nohecharei would need to be able ride alongside him.

“We would be happy to assist you in learning,” he said, hoping his face hadn't reddened as much as he feared it had. He could not have hoped for a better partner than Kiru Athmaza, especially after...and therein lay the source of his consternation. Observe, anticipate, prepare, and act: they were the four tenets drilled into the head of every hopeful who dreamed of one day becoming nohecharis from his first day as a cadet. To observe, anticipate, prepare and act were the duty of those who guarded the emperor. But try as he might, Telimezh still found himself a step behind as often as not, and were it not for Kiru's gentle, well-timed remarks, there were days he felt he would have failed in his role entirely.

To help her master the basics of equestrianism seemed the least he could do.

Kiru favored the same methodical approach to learning common to many clerics of Csaivo, and so it was some weeks before Telimezh brought her to the stables. First, he introduced her to the names and functions of saddle and tack, first through illustrated volumes on the subject, and then by demonstrating with the objects themselves, in one of the rooms set aside in the Alcethmeret for the convenience of those members of the court who, by desire or necessity, wished to never be too far from His Serenity's side.

From there, they moved on to equine anatomy—a subject which Kiru, after years of service in the charity hospitals, took to with an ease that left Telimezh feeling that _he_ was the pupil. He wondered if the Lieutenant ever felt the same in his partnership with Cala Athmaza, in whom Telimezh had observed something much akin to Kiru's unconscious self-assurance. But whatever uncertainty he felt, he did his best not to let it show. It was expected that a nohecharis be secure in himself and his abilities, for he more than any other the emperor's court would be called to speak truth to power. And of all the Untheileneise Court, only a nohecharis would never train beneath his predecessor, nor privately seek the advice of an equal, for his only peer was ever on duty while he was not. And for those same reasons, a nohecharis was obligated to give his absolute support to his partner, for there was no one else to whom to turn. One served the emperor while one was at his side, and one's partner at all other times. And so Telimezh devoted himself preparing Kiru as best he could so that she might better serve His Serenity in turn.

Eventually, they exhausted all that Kiru might learn from a book, and so today they met at the stables. Four hours remained before they were due to relieve their firsts, and the afternoon sunshine was glorious. After some deliberation, Telimezh had selected Periwinkle, an aging but spirited grey mare, for Kiru's first lesson. His own mount stood saddled and ready nearby.

Periwinkle tossed her mane and poked her head eagerly over the weathered boards of the corral as Kiru approached, anticipating an offering of oats. “She will not startle,” asked Kira, “If I pet her nose?”

“No,” he said, then looked again more sharply. _It is not that we are afraid of horses,_ she had told him, and he had taken her at her word without considering all that might have remained unsaid. “Needst not be nervous,” he said softly, judging that the informality would not offend. 

She regarded the horse alertly, head tilted to one side, and he saw from the tilt of her ears that his words had had the intended steadying effect. “We are not precisely nervous,” she said at last. “Merely unsure.” She gestured to her robe, indistinguishable from a maza's customary attire save for the long slit up each side that would permit her to sit a horse, and beneath which her riding leathers were just barely visible. The sight would have shocked him once, before he had served Edrehasivar and his empress. 

She met his eyes with one of her rare smiles. “It is yet one more thing we never imagined would be permitted us.”

He gave her a smile of his own in return. “We think it will not be so hard to imagine, for one who was able to imagine that she might be a nohecharo.” It was strange to think he had once found the idea of serving alongside a woman fantastical; far more fantastical than the idea that a woman need not ride sidesaddle. He had thought he might need to help her into the saddle, but to his surprise Kiru placed a foot in the stirrup and swung herself astride with little difficulty. She caught him watching and he lowered his eyes. “You take the saddle gracefully,” he said. And then, to himself, thought, _Though hast been in court too long; better thou shouldst just ask thy question plainly._

But she was tactful enough not to pretend she had not understood what he meant to say. “It is our duty to guard the emperor's spirit,” she said simply. “Although our training in the Athmaz'are focused on matters of the mind, we came to see while in the service of Csaivo how the mind and body are linked and we have since strived for strength and flexibility in our body, so that our mind might be too.”

She paused and regarded him. “Do you think us frivolous?” It was a genuine question, asked plainly and without rancor. 

“No.” He spoke without hesitation, but there was a time when he would have thought otherwise. He chose his next words with care. Forthrightness was demanded of him; they all knew what ills befell nohecharei who acted otherwise with each other, and the fate of the emperors they served. But in practice, it was no easy thing to access such honesty. “Our parents wished us to become a scholar, when we were a boy, but we only had thoughts for arms and physical pursuits.

“We admit, we did not see the use of attending to the mind at all, beyond what was necessary to keep oneself healthy. But after we entered His Serenity's service, and saw with our own eyes— 

“Place your hands on the reigns thus,” he said, pausing to correct her grip. He did not continue, but in truth, there was nothing more he need say, for none could miss the look of peace that came over His Serenity's features as he entered into meditation, were they there to see it. Nor had Telimezh failed to note how His Serenity's focus suffered on those days when he had been too tired to meditate the previous evening.

Now that Kiru was astride her horse, her inexperience was plainer to see, and his trained eye catalogued all the things—alignment of head and shoulders, the placement of knees against Periwinkle's flank—to be worked upon and improved. But those things would come in time, as they had for His Serenity, as they had, Telimezh supposed, for himself when he had been a small boy learning to ride. He had a sudden sense that they were all of them learning it as they went along, and an equally strong conviction as he noted Kiru's quiet pleasure sitting atop her mount, that they would work their way through it all.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Yuletide! Thank you for such a wonderful set of prompts. They were all lovely, but I was particularly intrigued by your musings on the institution of the nohecharei. I imagine that even though best practices have been handed down over the centuries, the nohecharei of this emperor's reign are working out something new.


End file.
